Principle #15 – Work hard to make hard things (more) simple.
Ever seen a process map that looks like a plate of spaghetti? Or listened to an explanation so complex you left with more questions than answers? Complexity might make us feel smart, but it slows decisions, burns people out, and kills momentum.
Leaders who master simplicity win. Not because life suddenly gets easy, but because they put in the hard work of stripping out what’s unnecessary so their teams can focus on what actually matters.
The Hero’s Move
Simplicity isn’t dumbing things down—it’s clarity:
- Remove fluff: What’s truly essential?
- Streamline steps: Where’s the friction we can cut?
- Speak plain: If your team needs a decoder ring, it’s too complex.
This takes effort because adding complexity is easy; carving it away is not. But once you commit, you free up energy, time, and decision speed. Teams stop spinning and start moving.
Next Step
Choose one “complicated monster” in your world—maybe it’s a bloated process, a tangled policy, or that meeting no one understands—and run it through the simplicity filter:
- What’s the real outcome?
- What’s the simplest way to get there?
Because hard things don’t have to stay hard—if you work hard to make them simple.